ابتکارات سیاستی برای مدیریت توسعه پایدار اجتماعی: تلاش گزارشات هندی Policy Initiatives for Governance of Socially Sustainable Development: India’s Account of Incessant Endeavors

Introduction Though the very concepts of sustainable development profoundly came into vogue in 1987 through its definition by the Brundtland Commission in the report, popularly known as, ‘Our Common Future’, and which was enlarged at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, held on June 1992 with the espousal of Agenda 21 (Parto, 2005), in India, the father of Constitution of India, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, embodies the concepts of sustainable development in the Indian Constitution, which was adopted on November 26, 1950. The complete gist of sustainable development can be understood from the preamble of the Constitution which states that We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign Socialist secular democratic republic and to secure to all its citizens, Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and Worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. (Ministry of Law and Justice, 2007) Thus, for the prosperity of its people, in sustained manner or to achieve sustainable development, the Constitution of India laid emphasis on justice, liberty, and equality, Fraternity to all of its citizens. Although India became sovereign after independence, because of its stratified social str-ucture, the doors of development were not open to majority in the society. Only countable numbers of people of the privileged class could access all means of sustenance. The reason behind this is stiffly pointed out by Dr B.R. Ambedkar in his paper, which he had read at the anthropology seminar of Dr A.A. Goldenweizer at Columbia University, New York, the USA, on May 9, 1916, that is relevant today as per the Indian society which is concerned. He pointed out that Indian society is a caste-based society and caste is the enclosed class (Ambedkar, 1917). Thus knowledge, culture, assets, capital, and thinking skills were confined to the limited class of the society not transferable to others for their development. Because of this social disparity due to the lack of social endosmosis and absence of culture of associate life, the concept of inclusive growth for sustainable development was explicitly absent before independence and even after initial periods of planning. Policy initiatives for inclusive growth of society began with implementation of constitutional provisions from 1950 and since the inception of planning commission in the same year. The framers of the Constitution were very visionary and they embodied the very principal of good governance for policy implementation in various articles of Constitution.